Before the E. L. James 50 Shades of Gray trilogy, I don't remember reading any erotic books. My taste in reading started very early and although I explored several literary genres, it never crossed my mind to invest in erotic literature. To be more specific, I don't even remember seeing erotic books in bookstores a few years ago. And to be quite honest, if I had seen it, I probably would not have had the courage to approach for fear of the judgment of the people who were around (even if they were strangers and did not pay my bill!).
It just shows how much SEX has always been a taboo in the female universe. I remember that when I was 13, a 21-year-old neighbor got pregnant by her boyfriend, who was 5 years younger than her. Both were my friends despite the age difference. My mother sat me down for a talk when the news spread. I, in my innocence, thought I would have an introductional conversation about sex. Rookie mistake. My mother looked at me and said: "you know what happened to Aline, don't you?", I said yes and she, with all the discomfort of the world on her face, ended the conversation with "what they did is wrong!"
If there was no courage to talk about sex, can you imagine buying a book on the subject? When my oldest son was 9, he came to my husband and I and asked for a Playboy magazine. I got scared because of his age, after all for me he was still a baby. But, according to him, all his friends had already seen the magazine and he also wanted to see it, not to feel excluded from the conversations. Well, my husband went out with him to buy it, but unluckily for him, who dreamed of seeing Scheila Carvalho (a famous brazilian dancer), the cover of the November 2009 edition was from the wonderful and sadly deceased, Fernanda Young (screenwriter, writer, presenter, actress, author and Brazilian director). He didn't hide his face of disappointment when he saw a naked woman older than his mother on the cover. But he decided to buy the magazine. When we are children, anyone over 30 is old! Let alone if they are older than your parents!
While girls had to be demure about sex, teen boys were encouraged to see erotic magazines and there was no shame in talking about it. Until 2011, we were hypnotized by Christian Grey. It was amazing to see how he touched female fantasy around the world. The most curious thing is that women did not consider (or did not want to admit) the book categorized as erotic and I include myself in that cake. The fact is that we were hooked in such a way that we devoured the whole Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy in the blink of an eye. And for the first time, we talked about the subject of sex (albeit disguised as romance) openly. The trilogy was the subject of virtually all circles of female conversation. Experts on the subject and regular readers of the genre say that the trilogy is "water with sugar" compared to other works of the genre.
Since then, the erotic literature market for women has grown a lot. There are already several Books Clubs focused on this theme. This means that we are becoming more comfortable talking about sex. However, a curious fact is that, in order to avoid embarrassment at the time of purchase, women prefer to buy digital books. According to the British newspaper Daily Mail, sales of erotic novels have grown by 30%, while readers are betting on their digital versions and that is why there are already publishers that have started to publish this literary genre more online than in print.
Digital access gave women permission to explore their feelings about sex and fantasy. And according to a scientific study by researcher Harold Leitenberg of The Journal of Sex Research, women who read novels or erotic novels have an astonishing 74% more sex with their partners than those who do not. That is, an excellent reason to wake up to this literary genre. Your sex life will thank you!
If you are curious to know more about this genre, these are my suggestions.
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